John Denver – Around the World Live [5-DVD]
Eagle Rock Entertainment (10/13/09)
Unrated
592 minutes
John Denver, a country-folk legend and one of America’s favorite sons, was an amazing songwriter, great performer and a very, very generous man—donating much money and time to humanitarian and environmental issues. His music garnered two Grammys, two Country Music Awards, three American Music Awards, an Emmy, an induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the sales of over 40 million albums. Eagle Rock Entertainment and Fontana Records have teamed up to release this new five-disc collection, Around the World Live, which features some of Denver’s finest performances.
The first three discs of the set consist of live shows taken from Australia (1977), Japan (1981) and England (1986), all complete with bonus tracks. The fourth disc features a Japanese solo acoustic set from 1984 and three separate Farm Aid appearances spanning the ’80s, while disc five features two one-hour-long documentaries, consisting of an Earth Day program from 1990 and a 1972 special about the Bighorn sheep who dwell in the Rocky Mountains. All of the restored footage was produced by Barry Ehrman. (And if five DVDs are too much for you, a single concert DVD, Rocky Mountain High: Live in Japan is also available.
The restoration of the DVDs was done beautifully, with the sound being crisp and clear. All of your favorites like, “Thank God I’m A Country Boy”, “Annie’s Song”, “Sunshine on My Shoulders” and “Calypso” are represented with slight variations on some of the performances. The band is tight and Denver’s vocals are dynamic, showing the world his passion and craft for music and story telling. If you are a fan, you need to add this to your collection, pronto.
